me. downtown kansas city, missouri. >> the heat from the fire came into the car. my windows were up and i could feel the heat. >> dogs are on the line as the deadline for massive budget cuts draws near. and not credible. prosecutors say oscar pistorius's explanation for why he shot his girlfriend just doesn't add up. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, february 20th, 2013. good morning. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. in kansas city, crews are working through the night looking for more victims of an

apparent gas close that rock add shopping mall. cadaver dogs are searching the rubble of a restaurant that burnt to the ground. residents of nearby buildings were forced to evacuate, and the mayor was one of first people on the scene. >> what we're really trying to get a handle on right now is how many people were hurt, who are they, what are they and that's kind of a moving target because we don't know who was there to begin with. >> witnesses say they smelled gas five hours before the blast and reported it to a construction crew working in the area. bigad shaban has more. >> reporter: flames and heavy smoke reach into the night sky over downtown kansas city after an explosion start add fire in an upscale shopping center. the blaze broke out just after 6:00 p.m. it destroyed a restaurant and damaged other structures at the country club plaza. the blast and the fire that followed injured more than a dozen people.

officials say the gas leak may have been caused by utility contractor working in the area. >> we feeble called the gas company. they came out, checked inside the building, said we were above the limit, it was unhealthy, and we needed to evacuate. he stepped tout door it wasn't two minutes when we were grabbing our stuff and the explosion hit and it hit you like a car accident. the shopping area dates back to 1922 and including retail store, offices, and apartment units. bigad shabab, cbs news. >> well, president obama is turning up the heat on republicans. there are only nine days left until dramatic automatic spending cuts into effect. he's blaming the gop. republican leaders are fighting back saying spending is the problem and they won't support any new tax hikes.

>> reporter: president obama called in police and firefighters to help talk republicans out of letting the budget cuts take effect. the automatic cuts known in washington as the sequester kick in march 1st. they were designed to be so severe they'd force lawmakers to reach a brukt deal but they haven't yet and now the president is pushing a short-term fix to allow more time to reach a compromise. >> there's a smarter way to do this, to reduce our deficits without harming our economy. but congress has to act. >> reporter: the white house wants a plan with smaller spending cuts and more tax revg news. republicans say the government is already too bloated and higher taxes should not be part of this equation. budget expert isabelle says the automatic cuts will hurt the economy,'ve though most government agencies should be able to weather them. >> most organizations can manage a cut of 5%, 7% in their budget

without long-term harm. i don't mean it won't be painful. it will be. >> reporter: allen simpson and erskine bowles says people will start feeling the effects like locker lines at the airports. >> when this happens they're going come back and say we're sick of this intransjens, let's do something smart. >> reporter: they'll only have a few days when they return next week. on the "cbs moneywatch" now, going on the offensive against cyber attacks, and apple gets bitten by a bug. erica ferrari is here with that and more in new york. good morning, erica? >> good morning, anne-marie. tokyo's nikkei gained 1%. hong kong's hang seng added more than half a percent. word of a possible merger between office max and office

depot rallied wall street. the dow climbed 53 points while the nasdaq added 21. the white house revealed how it's going to strike back at china following cyber attacks. they say the obama administration is considering fines, penalties, and trade restrictions. a virginia-based cyber security firm discovered a secret chinese military unit behind years of cyber attacks. china has denied any involvement and claims it's been a victim of hacking, too, by the u.s. and target was attacked by a cyber attack. the company says the mall ware got on the macs through a website for software developers by exploiting a security flaw in the browser. apple says it was similar too an

attack on facebook earlier this week. bp won't pay penalties for all of the more than 200 million gallons of oil that spilled back in 2010. the u.s. government agreed not to fine them for 34 million gallons they captured before entering the gulf. fines for all the rest of the oil will be in the billions. >> sony is expected to reveal details about its much anticipated gaming console today. execs will announce the gaming station that was released six years ago. sony competes with microsoft's xbox and the wii. well, oscar pistorius is back in a south africa court for the second day for his bail hearing. prosecutors say it was

premeditated murder but pistorius claims it was a tragic accident. >> reporter: oscar pistorius covered his head with blanket for day two of his hearing in south africa's capital. his defense team is trying to keep him out of jail before he goes on trial for the premeditated murder of his girlfriend model reeva steenkamp. his lawyers will have to prove exceptional circumstances that would justify granting bail. a trial for the 26-year-old is not expected for months but prosecutors are already revealing details for what they call a rock solid case against him. they believe he's a cold-blooded killer who killed steenkamp after a shouting match in his home on valentine's day. the paralympic superstar known as a blade runner for his legs said he was not wearing them the

night of the murder. he says he fired four shots through the locked door and shouted for steenkamp to call the police before realizing she was not in his bed and that he shot her. prosecutors tell it differently saying the sprinter took time to put on his artificial legs, walk across the room and then open fire on steenkamp who was hiding in the bathroom. family and friends buried the supermodel and law graduate on tuesday. pistorius said he was deeply in love with steenkamp and was filled with horror and fear as she died in his arms. tina krauz, cbs news. four-star general allen says he's retired. he was expected to become the next nato commander in europe. last fall he was investigating for sending inappropriate e-mails to florida socialite

jill kelley. he was cleared of all charges. he said he's stepping down to help his wife with her health issues. >> coming up on the "morning news," court date. jesse jackson jr. goes to federal court today to face charges he miss used campaign funds. this is the "cbs morning news." the delightful discovery. the sweet realization that you have a moment all to yourself. well, almost. splenda® no calorie sweetener. splenda® makes the moment yours™. splenda® no calorie sweetener. if yyou've got thegood whenwrong toilet paper.room, you want it to get you clean... gently. as long as i use quilted northern ultra plush® i'm happy... and positive i'm clean. quilted northern ultra plush with the innerlux layer. for a comfortable, confident clean, or your money back.

the intense ache made it hard to do the things that i wanted. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia -- thought to be the result of over-active nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. so now, i can do more of the things i enjoy. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, or tired feeling. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica.

don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i'm feeling better with lyrica. ask your doctor if lyrica is right for your fibromyalgia pain. this amazing video out of italy showing the eruption of mt. etna. it once began spewing lava on sicily for several hours on tuesday. flights were not affected and no villages were in the path of the la a va flow. well, former congressman jesse jackson and his wife are due in court. they spent hundreds of campaign dollars on themselves. susan mcginnis is in washington with the details on their expected guilty pleas.

>> that's right. jesse jackson will appear in federal court here in washington, d.c., this morning, his wife a few hours later this afternoon. his conviction will cap quite a fall from grace for this former congressman and son of civil rights leader the reverend jesse jackson. former congressman jesse jackson jr. and his wife sandy jackson will both appear before a federal judge at this u.s. district courthouse in washington, d.c., today. jackson has agreed to plead guilty to spending $750,000 of campaign donations on personal items including a gold rolex watch. >> he resigned from the congress. he's doing everything he can to try to make the government happy. he's willing to pay restitution. he's saying, hey, listen, i've stepped up to the plate, i've done everything i can, give me a break. >> it will be up to federal judge to decide whether he get necessary kind of a break. he faces up to five years in jail. >> they'll recommend jail, they'll recommend a five-year term, but the judge can ignore

that recommendation. >> yes, siree jackson jr. agreed to resign from congress as part of his blplea agreement. in his resignation letter he tried to protect his wife saying the miss stakes were his alone but the prosecution would not accept any deal without the congressman acknowledging that his wife knew what she was doing. prosecutors say she spent some of the campaign money on furs, but they're only charging her with filing false income tax rushes. she has since resigned from her seat on the chicago city council. >> it would be hard for any family to go what we've gone through publicly. >> the former congressman has been auto of the public eye for the last eight months while being treated at the mayo clinic for a bipolar disorder. now jesse jackson senior releasing a statement thanking everyone for his son's support. he describes the hurt as indescribable and hopes they'll

accept his son's apology. they couldn't phone home after the software glitch prevented the phone from talking with efrmt the communications link went down. astronauts aboard had the problem fixed fewer than three hours later. well, straight ahead, your wednesday morning weather, and in sports it's mad dash to the finish in east lansing as the hoosiers take on a tough michigan state squad. michigan state squad. [ female announcer ] imagine skin so healthy, it never gets dry again.

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here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. new york, mostly cloudy, 35 the high. 81 the high in miami. chicago, lots of sunshine, but chilly, 22. dallas, expect showers, 46. los angeles, showers in the morning. time now for a check of the national forecast. a major winter storm moves into the nation's heartland today with more than a foot of snow possible in nebraska and kansas. more snow in the west will bring half a foot to the interior northwest and a foot to flagstaff, arizona. expect lake-effect snow around the great lakes and gusty winds throughout much of the mid-atlantic. showers and thunderstorms roll through parts of the south. well, in sports we begin with college hoops and the top-ranked indiana hoosiers who barely survived a challenge from fourth-ranked michigan state. played on an injured ankle

victor oladipo led this is the first time indiana has beaten michigan state since 1991. the hoosiers beat the spartans, 72-68. verevenge for missouri. the tigers erased a 13-point deficit to rally past the gators, 63-60. a month ago florida blew out missouri by 31 points. and the "associated press" reports that the ncaa has acc e accused the university of miami of lack of institutional control. it's the latest episode in two-year investigation into alleged rules violations by a former university booster. the institutional control charge is one of the most serious. in the nba now, some last-chance heroics lift the nets past the bucks. joe johnson hit a game-tying

three-pointer to push the game into overtime and then the johnson hits a buzzer-beating buzzer to end the o.t. they beat milwaukee, 113-111. when we return now, another look at this morning's top stories and the case of the stolen diamonds. a brazen robbery at an airport and the search for eight masked suspects. >> announcer: sports sponsored by touch of gray. get the boaest of both worlds. wow, i've been claritin clear for 10 days! when your allergies start, doctors recommend taking one non-drowsy claritin every day during your allergy season for continuous relief. 18 days! 12 days! 24 days of continuous relief. live claritin clear. every day.

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here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. washington, d.c., partly sunny, 38 the high. atlanta, 53 the high. st. louis, 30 degrees but mostly sunny. denver, snow and rain and scattered showers. seattle, 47 the high. well, here's the top stories this morning. crews are working through the night after gas explosion rocked

a shopping district in kansas city. two people are reported missing and at least 14 injured. cadaver dogs are searching the rubble. and president obama is blaming republicans for the automatic spending cuts that will take effect on march 1st. he says they'll cause massive government layoffs. in europe now police are looking for eight masked gunmen who pulled off one of the most spectacular diamond heists in recent history. it happened in brussels at the brussels international airport just before 8:00 monday night and went down so fast police are investigating whether the thieves had inside information. kelly cobiella has the story. >> reporter: police at brussels international airport didn't see the heist coming our going. it took less than five minutes. eight masked men made a hole in a perimeter fence. they ordered the crew to open the cargo door, grabbed 120

packages, then sped back the way they came. the take, diamonds worth at least $50 million. caroline dewolf of the diamond center. >> yesterday was a complete shock for us. it's unbelievable and we don't know what happened. >> reporter: they were armed with machine guns and fitted their vehicles with flashing blue lines. they believe this charred van abandoned near the airport was used iffer the robbery. they're now looking for a black audi and eight suspects with boxes of diamonds to sell. kelly with cbs news, london. we have a heart. warming reunion. 2-year-old victoria was reunited with her dog charlie six months after he went missing from their home. charlie was anonymously dropped off at a shelter last week where he was identify by his micro chip and the two have been

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. good morning. welcome to wusa9. today is wednesday, february 20. this month is going by very quickly. i'm andrea roane. i'm mike hydeck.

thanks for joining us. it's 4:25. good morning, monika. >> 4:25. >> it is chilly outside. >> the winter is going by quickly. snow lovers not happy again. opportunities are fleeting. time is running out. >> the mountains are doing okay. >> you can still get in some good skiing but we are seeing winter waning. the winds are howling out there. the cold air has moved in. we have good visibility. partly cloudy skies. they'll be partly to mostly sunny today. yes, the temperatures do stay in the 30s. getting up to about 38 mid- to late afternoon. probably a midnight high when we go in the record books in the 40s but it is going to be a cold day. with the winds at times gusting 30, 35. windchills today will stay in the 20s. so the heavy coats, gloves, scarves. you know the drill. snow showers in the mountains of pennsylvania, west virginia, ohio. we've had some clouds blowing east of the ridgetops. temperatures down in the 30s, low to mid-30s now in most

areas, although we're in the 20s in western maryland, up in hagerstown. teens in oakland with windchills even colder than that i want to show you the wind gust, gusting to 24 in d.c. 23 gaithersburg, 31 hagerstown. in the mountains of west virginia we've had a gust this past hour to 43 miles an hour. that's some sort of coldwell' be dealing with today. it's early. traffic should be fine but we've got to get word from the expert. here's monika with more timesaver traffic. >> don't speak too soon, howard. if you're planning to head south on 95, it should be okay but it's not. southbound 95 at the prince william parkway, there is a vehicle that went off the road into the guardrail. i have a shot of it on our traffic camera. they keep moving the camera around but you can see the car right there in the ditch. it went off the guardrail and on to the side of the road. they'll have to clean thawp. the only good news here if there is any is that it's

southbound against the rush hour flow. no problems to report here on the bw parkway and route 50 through cheverly. i do not believe you have that heavy traffic here. i think that's incorrect heading up from 295 to cheverly. in laurel, west of conte, east of i-95 is closed with construction. back to you guys. >> thank you, monika. a second suitland high school student is shot and killed in as many days. the 18-year-old was one of two people shot yesterday around 5:30 in forest hill, maryland. >> there were two victims. the second victim is in critical condition. is happened on donald drive near the intersection of pennsylvania avenue. this makes it sixth student killed in justed last month. >> reporter: this parking lot in the 3700 block of denle drive -- donnell drive is the latest murder scene involving yet another high school student in prince william county.

when investigators got here, two 18-year-olds were lying on the ground with gunshot wounds. one of them, a ninth grader at suitland high was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. the other 18-year-old is listed in critical condition. 17-year-old curtis leer says he knows the teens who were shot. he tells us they all went to school together and lived at these apartments. neither him nor police wanted to identify the pair by name. >> it is senseless violence. it's uncalled for. i believe that they didn't really deserve that. >> reporter: police have no motive for the shootings. they have no arrests and very little in the way of details. >> detectives are working to establish a motive in this case and to establish any suspect information. >> reporter: as investigators look for those clues and hopefully put an end to the violence, youth advocates are sending warnings to law enforcement and the community saying violent crimes among teens are spiking again at an alarming rate. >> it's coming back. the dynamics of the